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Can you cross a city without going outside? The present simple passive with am, is and are

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches the present simple passive through the Minneapolis skyway, a network of enclosed bridges and hallways that links about 80 downtown blocks.

Grammar
Am, is or are + past participle for every person (The buildings are linked by skyways.), negatives and questions (Are the skyways heated?), irregular participles and by + the doer only when it matters.
Topic
How downtown Minneapolis is connected above the street, with words such as pedestrian, hallway, suburb and shortcut.
Activities
Episode notes to read, a winter race through the skyways and a message from St. Paul to hear, self-checking drills, a directions chat and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: brrr, it's cold out there!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: a city above the streetVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a city above the street

    • Look at the picture: inside a skywayPictureUnlock
    • Read the episode notesArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a race through the skyways

    • Listen to Jade and DariusListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to The Listener's Take: PenelopeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: The skyways are heated!

    • Study the scheme: the present simple passiveGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the present simple passiveFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: past participles and the present simple passiveFill in the tableUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps in the present simple: active or passive?Fill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: lost in the skyways

    • Choose the right replies: lost in the skywaysChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: people, places or verbs?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: make the present simple passiveFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the sentence with the same meaningQuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Jade answers PenelopeDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a visitor guide to the skywaysChoose the optionUnlock

32 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • downtown
  • pedestrian
  • hallway
  • developer
  • suburb
  • architect
  • shopper
  • shortcut
  • hotdish

Grammar: the present simple passive

The present simple passive puts the thing first and the doer second, or leaves the doer out: The buildings are linked by bridges. It is am, is or are + the past participle. A city connected above its streets shows why the thing can matter more than the doer: nobody asks who heats the skyways.

The skyways are heated!

The present simple passive: am / is / are + past participle. Use it when the thing or the action matters more than the doer.

Am, is or are + past participle

Be changes with the subject, and the participle stays the same: I am invited, it is heated, they are invited. Negatives add not: It isn't heated. Never drop be or use the base form: The buildings are connected, not The buildings connected, and are used, not are use.

am / is / are + past participle

PersonPositiveNegativeQuestion
II am (I'm) invited.I'm not invited.Am I invited?
youYou are (you're) invited.You aren't invited.Are you invited?
heHe is (he's) invited.He isn't invited.Is he invited?
sheShe is (she's) invited.She isn't invited.Is she invited?
it (the skyway)It is (it's) heated.It isn't heated.Is it heated?
weWe are (we're) invited.We aren't invited.Are we invited?
theyThey are (they're) invited.They aren't invited.Are they invited?

be + past participle, every time

Don't forget be: The buildings are connected by bridges (not: The buildings connected by bridges). Use the past participle, not the base form: It is built (not: It is build). The skyways are used (not: are use). One person or thing: is (but I am, you are). Two or more: are.

Regular and irregular participles

Regular verbs add -ed or -d: linked, entered, used, heated. Irregular verbs have their own participle: Skyways are built above the street. The skyways are kept warm in winter. Darius is known for his sound effects. Set doesn't change: The hours are set by each building.

VerbPast participleExample
link, enter, use, heat+ -ed or -d: linked, entered, used, heatedThe buildings are linked by skyways.
buildbuiltSkyways are built above the street.
keepkeptThe skyways are kept warm in winter.
makemadeHotdish is made in one big pan.
seeseenFootnote is often seen on the mixing desk.
knowknownDarius is known for his sound effects.
setset (no change)The hours are set by each building.

Questions and short answers

Questions start with am, is or are, then the subject and the participle: Are the skyways heated? Yes, they are. Is the first skyway used today? No, it isn't. With a question word and by: Who is each skyway owned by?

Am / Is / Are+ subject+ past participle?

Are the skyways heated? Yes, they are.

Is the first skyway used today? No, it isn't.

Who is each skyway owned by? The buildings it connects.

Active or passive, and when to add by

Active puts the doer first: Each building sets its own hours. Passive puts the thing first: The hours are set by each building. Add by + the doer only when it's important, leave it out when it isn't (The skyways are heated.), and use with for a tool.

Active or passive?

Active: the doer comes first. Each building sets its own hours. Passive: the thing comes first. The hours are set by each building. Use the passive when the thing or the action matters more than the doer, or when you don't know the doer.

by + the doer, only when it matters

Add by + the doer only when it is important: Each skyway is owned by the buildings it connects. Leave it out when it isn't: The skyways are heated. (Who heats them? It doesn't matter.) For a tool, use with, not by: The letters are written with a pen (not: by a pen).

In the skyways and in the studio

  • Downtown buildings are linked by skyways.
  • Most skyway buildings are entered from the second level.
  • In many elevators, the second floor is marked “SK.”
  • Are the skyways heated? Yes, they are.
  • The first skyway isn't used today. It's gone.
  • Who are the mugs washed by this week? By Darius!

Common mistakes

  • The skyways are use every day.

    The skyways are used every day.

    be + past participle

  • The buildings connected by bridges.

    The buildings are connected by bridges.

    don't forget be

  • The skyway are heated.

    The skyway is heated.

    one thing: is

  • Is the bridges used at night?

    Are the bridges used at night?

    two or more: are

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises

Try the present simple passive exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • describe how a place works with am, is or are + past participle: Downtown buildings are linked by skyways. The skyways are heated and cooled.
  • use irregular participles: Skyways are built above the street. Hotdish is made in one big pan. Darius is known for his sound effects.
  • ask and answer passive questions: Are the skyways heated? Yes, they are. Who is each skyway owned by?
  • add by + the doer only when it matters, and with for a tool: The hours are set by each building.

Lesson 5 opens Cities of tomorrow, unit 2 of English B1.2 · Changemakers, and starts the course's run of passives. It builds on the past participles learned with the present perfect in A2.2 lessons 1 and 2, and on made of and made from in A2.2 lesson 19. Lesson 6 moves the passive into the past with was and were. In a skyway system, what matters is what is heated, linked and owned, not who does it, so the passive fits naturally.

Students spin a wheel of questions about cold days, bridges and getting lost, then learn twelve words, from link and enter to hotdish, with pictures and audio. They read the episode notes on the skyways, from the elevator button marked “SK” to the Crystal Court, then hear Jade race to the next skyway while Darius commentates and a listener, Penelope, describe St. Paul's skyways and her family's hotdish, both AI-voiced. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme; one is an active-or-passive gap-fill with the same verbs. In the speaking chapter, a friend named Lowell guides students to lunch through the skyways in a chat, and open boxes ask about their own town.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: four for the words, one of them a sort into people, places and verbs; a choice of forms; gaps that make the passive; word order; a quiz that turns active sentences into passive ones; Jade's answer to Penelope with words to drag in; and a visitor guide to the skyways.

Grammar:
present simple passive · am / is / are + past participle · passive questions · by + the doer
Topic:
Minneapolis · skyways · St. Paul · hotdish · Minnesota · cities · winter · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Start with the mystery button: ask why an elevator in Minneapolis might say “SK” instead of “2”. Students read the episode notes to check, then underline every passive in that paragraph.
  • Play the skyway dialogue twice: first for the facts (SK, heated and cooled, the oldest skyway), then for each passive. Students tap the desk at are linked, are entered and are washed.
  • Turn the classroom into the drill: pairs say passive facts about it, such as The windows are opened every morning or The board is cleaned on Fridays, and the class guesses the doer.
  • After the chat, map a route in your own town: students explain how two places are connected, what each building is used for and where it is entered: The library is entered from Main Street.

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The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, about people and ideas that changed things: start-ups, future cities, food, memory, customs, art, volunteers and adventure. The podcast team of English B1.1 is back for a season called Changemakers. Learners use the second conditional, the passive, reported speech, the past perfect, relative clauses and verb patterns, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Start-up stories

    the second conditional, If I were you, the first vs the second conditional, also, too, as well and besides

    1. Lesson 1The garage where Silicon Valley beganThe second conditional for imagined situations
    2. Lesson 2Would you sell lemonade to save bees?Second conditional questions and If I were you
    3. Lesson 3Pitch it to the Sharks!First vs second conditional: a real plan or a dream?
    4. Lesson 4A bakery that hires anyone?Adding ideas: also, too, as well, either and besides

  2. Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow

    the passive in the present simple and the past simple, with modals, and in the present perfect and present continuous

    1. Lesson 5 · you're hereCan you cross a city without going outside?The present simple passive
    2. Lesson 6A park on top of a freeway?The past simple passive
    3. Lesson 7Can a desert city catch the rain?The passive with modals
    4. Lesson 8Can an old railroad become a park?The present perfect and present continuous passive

  3. Unit 3 Food for the future

    comparative and superlative adverbs, the future passive, verbs with prepositions, phrasal verbs with up, away and out

    1. Lesson 9Why did Carver tell farmers to plant peanuts?Comparative and superlative adverbs
    2. Lesson 10Lettuce from space?The future passive with will be
    3. Lesson 11Why do corn, beans and squash grow together?Verbs with dependent prepositions
    4. Lesson 12What happens to dining-hall leftovers?Phrasal verbs with up, away and out

  4. Unit 4 Memory and learning

    reported statements with say and tell, tense changes, time and place words, reported questions, requests and commands

    1. Lesson 13Can you train your memory?Reported statements with say and tell
    2. Lesson 14He got better but never rememberedReported statements about the past
    3. Lesson 15Can a TV show teach the alphabet?Reported questions
    4. Lesson 16Can you learn a new skill at 70?Reported requests and commands

  5. Unit 5 Customs and manners

    degree adverbs such as quite and pretty, the past perfect, the past perfect vs the past simple, make vs do

    1. Lesson 17To tip or not to tip?Adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs
    2. Lesson 18They'd already started without me!The past perfect: had + past participle
    3. Lesson 19What should you do at a powwow?Past perfect vs past simple
    4. Lesson 20How do you accept a lei?Make vs do: collocations to learn

  6. Unit 6 Art and design

    relative clauses with whose, non-defining relative clauses, relative clauses without a pronoun, when and why

    1. Lesson 21Art that moves in the airRelative clauses with whose
    2. Lesson 22A heart that sells a stateNon-defining relative clauses
    3. Lesson 23What would you paint on a city wall?Relative clauses without who, which or that
    4. Lesson 24Why does the sign say Hollywood?Relative adverbs: when, why and where

  7. Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers

    verb + -ing or to, -ing as a subject and after prepositions, stop, remember, try and forget, prefer and would rather

    1. Lesson 25A day on, not a day off?Verb + -ing or verb + to
    2. Lesson 26The house that welcomed a neighborhoodGerunds as subjects and after prepositions
    3. Lesson 27A walk that lasted 24 hoursStop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing
    4. Lesson 28Head, heart, hands and healthPrefer, would rather and would prefer

  8. Unit 8 Adventure and challenge

    possessive 's vs of, must and can't for deduction, might, may and could for possibility, the meanings of get

    1. Lesson 29Could you climb a fourteener?Possessive 's, s' or of
    2. Lesson 30It must be here somewhere!Must and can't for deduction
    3. Lesson 31How did Houdini get out?Might, may and could for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A capital with no road inThe meanings of get

Questions about this lesson

What is the present simple passive?
The present simple passive is am, is or are + the past participle, and it puts the thing in front of the action: The skyways are heated. Most skyway buildings are entered from the second level. Use it when the thing matters more than the doer. The B1 lesson Can you cross a city without going outside? on edio.ai teaches it with the Minneapolis skyway.
How do you form the present simple passive?
Take the form of be that fits the subject, then the past participle: I am invited, it is heated, they are invited. Regular participles end in -ed (linked, used); irregular ones have to be learned (built, kept, made, seen, known). For the negative, add not: It isn't used. Questions start with am, is or are.
What are some examples of the present simple passive?
From Can you cross a city without going outside?: Downtown buildings are linked by skyways. In many elevators, the second floor is marked “SK.” The hours are set by each building. Hotdish is made with whatever is in the kitchen. The studio mugs are washed by the loser of the Mug Bet. In each one, the thing comes first.
When do you use the passive instead of the active?
Use the passive when the thing matters more than the doer, or when you don't know the doer. Active: Each building sets its own hours. Passive: The hours are set by each building. Add by + the doer only when it's important, and use with for a tool: The letters are written with a pen. Can you cross a city without going outside? practices both voices.
Is it "are used" or "are use"?
It's are used: the passive needs the past participle, not the base form. The skyways are used every day, not are use; It is built, not It is build. Don't drop be either: The buildings are connected by bridges, not The buildings connected by bridges. And match be to the subject: Are the bridges used at night?, not Is the bridges…?
What is the Minneapolis skyway?
The Minneapolis skyway is a network of enclosed bridges, hallways inside buildings and a few tunnels that joins the buildings of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, about 80 city blocks in all. The bridges cross the streets at second-floor level, and the skyways are heated and cooled. The first skyway opened in 1962; the oldest one still in use opened over 7th Street on June 12, 1963.
Why do Minneapolis elevators say SK?
In many downtown elevators, the second-floor button says “SK,” for skyway, instead of “2.” Most buildings connected to the skyways are entered from that level. Each skyway is owned by the buildings it connects, so each building sets its own hours, and visitors use printed or online maps. Jade spots the SK button on a winter field trip in Can you cross a city without going outside?
How do I teach the present simple passive to B1 students?
Start from things, not people: show a bridge, a school or a pan of hotdish and ask what happens to it: It's heated. It's made in one pan. Then build the table with am, is and are. Can you cross a city without going outside? on edio.ai goes from the skyway notes and a race through the skyways to the scheme and five drills.
What's a good game for practicing the present simple passive?
Play guess the place: one student gives passive clues, such as Books are borrowed here or Bread is baked here every morning, and the class guesses where it is. The open boxes in Can you cross a city without going outside? turn the same language on students' towns: What is your town known for? What is made or grown there?
How do you practice the present simple passive one-to-one?
Describe the student's own city together: how it's connected, what is built or made there and what is used most. The chat in Can you cross a city without going outside?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, works without a partner: Lowell, a friend in Minneapolis, guides a visitor through the skyways to lunch, and the student picks replies such as So the hours aren't set by the city.
What's good homework for practicing the present simple passive?
Give active sentences to turn into passive ones: Each building sets its own hours becomes The hours are set by each building. That same-meaning quiz sits among ten self-checking homework tasks in Can you cross a city without going outside? on edio.ai, next to gaps that make the passive and a visitor guide to the skyways.
Are there interactive exercises for the present simple passive?
Yes: a gap-fill, a table and a chat with instant marking. This page plays three parts of Can you cross a city without going outside?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: Jade and Darius in the skyways, a gap-fill of the present simple passive and Lowell's directions chat. The rest is for account holders.
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